Where is this year’s Appalachian State?

Parity in college football officially arrived one season ago. Appalachian State announced that to everyone in the nation with a deafening yell heard by all 110,000 fans in attendance at “The Big House.” After the Mountaineers bested No. 5 Michigan 34-32, you kind of had the feeling that it was going to be a wild year.

Little did anyone know that there would be such a massive number of upsets, a curse of the No. 2 spot in the polls, surprise BCS bowl appearances by Illinois, Hawaii and Kansas and miserable seasons for historic programs like Nebraska and Notre Dame. It was truly an unpredictable year.

Although it seems early in the season, many teams are already one-third of the way through their 12 game schedule, and the magic from last year appears absent. But don’t fret yet. The upsets are coming.

This year’s caliber of upsets does look weak in comparison to last season. However, it’s tough to top a season in which fans were spoiled by so many thrills. 2008 has not been completely lacking, though, as there have been a few close calls — Ohio State barely squeaked out a victory at home against in-state rival Ohio. An upset by the Bobcats over the Buckeyes would have been equally as shocking as Michigan’s flop one year ago.

While Ohio State snuck through, West Virginia hasn’t been nearly as fortunate, getting bit by the upset bug twice. Now West Virginia is in danger of unraveling.

Many thought Pat White and West Virginia were poised to contend for a Big East title and a shot at the national championship, but now they look eerily similar to Brian Brohm’s Louisville Cardinals team from 2007.

Last year, the Cardinals started 2-0 and were ninth in the nation heading into a week three showdown against Kentucky. They lost a close one to the Wildcats, falling 40-34. After the loss, the Cardinals lost their balance and stumbled at home the following week against a lowly Syracuse team that finished the year 2-10.

West Virginia followed the same pattern in the last two weeks. After being shocked by East Carolina, they fell in Boulder to Colorado this past week. Louisville finished 6-6 in 2007. West Virginia is going to have to fight its way out of a 1-2 hole if they don’t want to have a similarly disappointing season.

Four weeks into the year, 10 ranked teams have fallen to unranked foes, with the biggest upset coming from No. 8 West Virginia’s slip up against East Carolina. Three teams in the top 15 have fallen, as well as six teams in the top 20.

One year ago, 11 teams dropped to unranked competition in the opening four weeks. Five teams ranked in the top 11 and 10 teams ranked in the top 20 fell victim to upset. The highest ranked team to fall was No. 5 Michigan.

The quantity and magnitude of upsets is down from one season ago, but that doesn’t mean this year is destined to disappoint. In fact, it wasn’t until week five of 2007 that things got really wild.

It was actually one of the more shocking weekends in the history of college football. The nation took witness to heartbreak after heartbreak as many teams with national title hopes were dismantled.

In week five of 2007, seven ranked teams lost to unranked opponents and of those seven teams, five were ranked in the top 13. Two of the upsets took place in our own Big 12 backyard. Colorado shocked the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas State went down to Austin and handled the seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns.

With that said, I wouldn’t start making bold BCS championship predictions just yet. It’s foolish to think that although parity prospered one year ago it’s going to disappear this season. Yes, traditional powers such as Florida, USC and Oklahoma will most likely finish near the top again, but they all fell at some point last year when everyone least suspected it.

If East Carolina’s loss to N.C. State threw you off guard and now you are wondering who will crash the BCS bash, don’t worry — there are plenty of options out there. Ball State and Tulsa both have outside shots to represent their respective conferences, but one conference looks to have the best chance at an invite.

The mighty Mountain West Conference has to like their odds right now, as they have three teams ranked in the top 25. That’s more teams than the Pac-10, Big East or ACC have. With No. 11 BYU, No. 17 Utah and No. 23 TCU all still perfect, the Mountain West is on top of the hill as far as non-major conferences go.

TCU does play at Oklahoma this week, so one would think their dreams will be diminished on Saturday. Then again, if week five is anything like last year, I like my odds with TCU.

— — Edited by Rachel Burchfield